Infection control must improve

The risk of contracting infections at MountainView Hospital has been so great that it is in jeopardy of being dropped as a Medicare and Medicaid participant, according to a recent report by state health inspectors.

Inspectors reported multiple infection control violations at MountainView, including blood on the floor of a lab, a physician assistant contaminating equipment with bloody gloves and no system in place to track whether patients had picked up an infection after undergoing an outpatient endoscopy or cardiac catheterization procedure.

Other violations include:

Leaking bags of intravenous fluids and a failure to dispose of old intravenous fluid bags.

A phlebotomist drew blood from a patient and kept on her gloves while typing on a keyboard, effectively contaminating it. The woman then removed her gloves and sanitized her hands, but then typed on the same keyboard, contaminating her hands. She then put on a new pair of gloves and proceeded to draw blood from the next patient.

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Inspectors reported multiple infection control violations at MountainView, including blood on the floor of a lab, a physician assistant contaminating equipment with bloody gloves and no system in place to track whether patients had picked up an infection after undergoing an outpatient endoscopy or cardiac catheterization procedure.

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Other violations include:

Leaking bags of intravenous fluids and a failure to dispose of old intravenous fluid bags.

A phlebotomist drew blood from a patient and kept on her gloves while typing on a keyboard, effectively contaminating it. The woman then removed her gloves and sanitized her hands, but then typed on the same keyboard, contaminating her hands. She then put on a new pair of gloves and proceeded to draw blood from the next patient.